It's a Waiting Game

There is not really much to update as far as the adoption goes right now.  Our Dossier was submitted to the children's country early last month.  It should have been translated by now and sent to the Prime Minister.  Now we just have to wait and hear if the PM will approve us.  Once we get approval, we will be invited to travel to meet the children.  The plan is for me to go by myself so that we can save money and so that Jason can save up his vacation time.  It will also be easier on Claudia that way. 

We really do not know what the timeline looks like right now. Another family that submitted their Dossier a few months before us was invited to travel within just a couple of months after the submission. However, in the month of August, there is a holiday in which the Gov. (in our children's country) shuts down for a period of time. During that time, our file just sits. I am expecting to travel this year, I'm hoping for early November, but I honestly have no idea when travel will happen. For now we are waiting, saving money and trying to fundraise.

This month both "Callie" and "Chance" have birthdays.It would mean so much to us if you would consider donating $13 (or any amount) to our FSP: HERE in honor of Callie and Chane's birthdays, that will be their combined age at the end of the month. I call this the "Lucky 13" as 13 is their combined age on what will hopefully be the last birthday wither of them have without a family.

I also recently started selling Celebrating Home as a way to raise money for our adoption as well as for other families and causes. 25% of every purchase made through this link: HERE will go directly towards our adoption. Check out he Ooh La Lamp, it is my favorite item! Also, in the month of September all framed art prints are 25% off. It is not too early to start thinking about Christmas shopping! Celebrating Home has something for everyone, we have a wide variety of products:

 

I am still selling Origami Owl, and I want to say that we have some amazing new items available for sale!  Make sure you check out the CORE collection, our new Bridal line, leather wrap bracelets and our Lanyard Lockets (badge holders).  Our new Fall/Winter catalog has over 300 new items!  You can shop through this link: HERE

Claudia has been doing well, she turned 5 this summer and just started Kindergarten last week.  So far, so good.  She is definitely testing things at home and is not happy when she does not get her way (who is?)  We're working through some behavioral difficulties right now, but I think once she gets into the routine of school, things will get better.  Claudia has Speech Therapy 5 days a week this year and we are hoping that her communication skills improve this year.  Jason and I believe that a lot of her behaviors stem from not being able to communicate everything she wants to us.  Claudia is very good with her ASL, she picks it up as fast as we teach it to her.  I really think that Jason and I are holding her back by not learning more ourselves.  We understand her signs and her new teachers are impressed with them, but her fingers are so stubby and her fine motor skills still need improvement, so her signs don't always look right, even though we know what she is saying. 

Claudia learned a lot in preschool, she really did very well and thrived there.  I was anxious to send her to kindergarten, mostly because of her size but I do think that she learned about as much as she could from her previous school and that she was ready to move up.  We can't wait to see what this year brings!